I am New to PC Recording. When I connect the Headphone output to the line input of my PC I get a loud hum that greatly distorts the sound. Also adjusting the volume is difficult, it goes from just bearly regesting on the level bars to overload with just a little increase. Any help would be great.

I am using a Compaq Presario SR1030NX running XP Home with no added sound card. The onboard Sound device is a Realtek AC97 Audio for VIA (R) audio Controller

I have Technics Turntable connected to a Technics SA-370 Reciever. I am connecting the headphone output to the Line input on my PC. Also maybe of interest, my pc is pluged into a Belkin UPS, the phono & Reciever are pluged into multioutlet surge protecter. The sound from the turntable thru the reciever to the speakers is fine until I connect to the PC. I hope this helps!!

Hi Tom. My opinion is that you have an impedance mismatch using the headphone output. Do you have a "line out" you could use which which sometimes bypasses the tone and vol controls on your amp. I think others in the forum will have opinions on this also.
Stan

Hi Tom;
I agree with Stan that using the record out is a better way. The headphone jack is connected to the main amp through a small resistor to match the voltage level for headphones. Still, it is much too high for line-in recording, which is why you're overloading the input very quickly. The record out likely will not have any volume control so you'll be using the windows control applet exclusively for setting the level. In theory, the signal quality should be much, much better this way, even if you need to boost the final wave level using Wavcor's normalization feature. And make sure you don't monitor the recording through the speakers as you'll muck up the sound with vibration feedback.
Good luck.

Glenn wrote:And make sure you don't monitor the recording through the speakers as you'll muck up the sound with vibration feedback.

Are you referring to audio feedback to the turntable pickup here or something different? The former is unlikely to be a serious problem unless you are monitoring at very high volume or the turntable is very close to the speakers. At worst you can put the lid down! After all, you can listen to the record live can't you.

When I followed the suggestion to move from the headphone output to the record output, I am not sure the record output is working! or if maybe the line input of the PC was damaged from the headphone input. I now see nothing on the record level bars. The only way I have gotten any reasonal sound input is by using a mike in the area of the speakers, but that naturely has way to much room noise ! I am trying to find a way to verify the adapters that go from the R & L RCA connectors of the record output lto the line input jack on the PC. I have no idea what the record out output level is or is suppose to be or what the line in input is expecting.

Hi Tom. Two possibilities that I see. One is the fixed "line out" level is too low for your inputs or using the "head phone" jack disconnects the line out. (this is usually designed to kill speakers when head phones are used and normally doesn't affect "line out"). If you bring up your volume controls on your screen, do you have a provision for controlling the input (recording) volume. The AC97 audio controller 'should' have a way of setting record volume and playback volume. I am not familiar with the AC97 but years ago before having a sound card I discovered that my settings on my 'old sound controller' were either set on muted or set far too low for a decent input level. Keep us posted. I am sure the solution is simple and we just can't see it yet.
Stan

Are you referring to audio feedback to the turntable pickup here or something different?

Yes, this is what I'm referring to. In theory, it is better to keep the feedback to a minimum (it's not possible to eliminate it completely), but it really all comes down to preference. Years ago I discovered that on some decks lowering the lid can actually increase the feedback and make the sound worse. The pickup is extremely microphonic; one member in this forum posted that he could clearly hear his dog barking in a recording.

I have heard of the problem but I can only say that I'm glad that I have never had it - neither at home when listening critically nor live club work at very high volumes (though not exactly a critical listening environment).